Opportunity knocks on Lions

Lions will have a chance to discover history when they face the Jaguars in Buenos Aires during one of the Vodacom Super Rugby tournaments. JON CARDINELLI reports.

Last season, the Lions defeated Waratahs in Sydney, and Sharks dumped Blues in Auckland. In addition to these successes, four local Super Rugby teams have combined 14 failures in Australasia, four defeats in Argentina and two particularly troublesome results in Asia.

South African rugby fans have become accustomed to such failures in Australia and New Zealand. The recent struggles in Argentina and Asia were difficult to accept.

In the current situation, only bulls Vodacom and the Watchmen lost to werewolves in Asia. However, all four South African companies went to Jaguares in Buenos Aires last season. Bearing these results in mind, it did not surprise us when Springboks lost to Puma in Mendoza in the Rugby Championship.

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Lions have never defeated the Jaguars in Argentina. Coach Johan Ackermann decided to spend the majority of his star stars in matches played in that part of the world in 2016 and 2017. Lions lost 34-22 and 36-24 respectively.

Last season, the new coach of Swys de Bruin took a strong side to South America. However, the staff made no difference as a result, as Lions dropped 49-35.

Lions will have a chance to buy themselves in the first round of the 2019 Super Cup tournament. Defeating the Jaguars in Argentina would set the franchise field and ensure that the South African collective will start the season in first place when it comes to away games.

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"Your campaign is not based on the outcome of the first fight," said Laughan Flyhalf Elton Jantjies in an interview with SARugbymag.co.za. "This is an important game considering the goals we have set for ourselves.

"There will be a few new players in the mix, there will be lots of emotions and a few changes, we have to settle quickly and create a good base for building."

The Lions will play at Sunwolves in Tokyo on March 23. They will have to face the Brumbies in Canberra, the bosses in Hamilton and the current champions, Crusaders, in Christchurch, when they travel around Australia in April.

Meanwhile, sharks are going to face the werewolves in Singapore this Saturday. The Durban side has never lost a match in Asia.